1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to color photographic materials. More particularly, the invention relates to photographic materials for use as color prints capable of producing dye images that have high fastness to light and will permit only balanced color fading.
2. Prior Art and Its Problems
Conventional photographic materials for use as color prints consist of a reflective support which has successively formed thereon a blue-sensitive silver halide emulsion layer containing a yellow coupler, a first non-light-sensitive intermediate layer, a green-sensitive silver halide emulsion layer containing a magenta coupler, a second non-light-sensitive intermediate layer, a red-sensitive silver halide emulsion layer containing a cyan coupler, and a non-light-sensitive protective layer. To inhibit the fading of dye images upon exposure to light, a UV absorber is incorporated in the first and/or second intermediate layer. But the image keeping quality, especially fastness to light, of the conventional products is far from being satisfactory, and the dye image formed will fade appreciably upon exposure to light. The dye images from the respective couplers vary greatly in the rate of fading (which increases in the order of yellow, magenta and cyan couplers) and the color balance among the respective images will be greatly influenced by exposure to light. This defect is described in prior art references such as British Journal of Photography, 128 (6329), 1170-1171 (1981).